Book Description

A history of the Italian immigrant communities in Louisiana at the close the nineteenth century and the difficulty the faced acclimating to American society. Though the Italian contribution to Louisiana’s culture is palpable and celebrated, at one time ethnic Italians were constantly embroiled in scandal, sometimes deserved and sometimes as scapegoats. The new immigrants hoped that they would be welcomed and see for themselves the “streets paved with gold.” Their new lives, however, were difficult. Italians in Louisiana faced prejudice, violence and political exile for their refusal to accept the southern racial mores. Author and historian Alan Gauthreaux documents the experience of those Italians who arrived in Louisiana over one hundred years ago. “This historical survey was no easy task, and the presentation of this intriguing chapter in Louisiana’s rich history is quite impressive. Any Louisiana library would be incomplete without Italian Louisiana, an extensively researched, evenly paced, and well-balanced account of the unique Italian experience in Louisiana.” —Florent Hardy, Jr., Ph.D., state archivist for Louisiana State Archives “Immigration historians have largely focused on the northeast and California when studying the history of Italian Americans in this country. We are therefore grateful to Alan Gauthreaux for his well-researched study on how Italian immigrants to Louisiana fared. More than a hundred years ago, thousands of Italians, mainly from Sicily, were “imported” to Louisiana to work in the sugar cane fields that the newly freed slaves avoided. The Italians faced serious obstacles, including prejudice and violence. In fact, the biggest mass lynching in American history occurred in 1891, when a New Orleans mob slaughtered 11 Italians, including a teen-age boy, after they had been found innocent of murdering a police officer. But Gauthreaux also explores how, through hard work and strong values, these immigrants eventually secured a much brighter future for themselves and their descendants. A “must-read” for anyone interested in Italian Americans and their story.” —Dona De Sanctis, PhD, editor-in-chief, Italian America Magazine